The past two years I have served on the "Communications" team for our continuous improvement plan. We've been working on defining what qualities and practices will make our writing program go from adequate to outstanding. This has meant meeting together regularly to review the current "plan" and consider changes. It has been valuable (again as a new staff member) to engage in discussion with other language arts teachers (from Kindergarten onwards to middle school) and develop a greater sense of "flow" between the grades in terms of writing outcomes/expectations.